Philip Melanchthon is a famous German humanist, known as an associate of Luther. His real name is Schwarzard. He was born into a family of a gunsmith and a merchant’s daughter; pupil and grand-nephew of Johann Reuchlin.
The friendship with Martin Luther began at Melanchthon during the Lutheran Leipzig dispute with Eck in the spring of 1518. Since then, despite temporary disagreements, this friendship was not interrupted until Luther’s death, in large part due to the softness of Philip himself. Luther intended him to be his successor, and after Luther’s death, Melanchthon really rose to the helm of Lutheranism. After his death Melanchthon was buried next to the grave of Luther.
“Portrait of Philip Melanchthon” Albrecht Durer performed in a complex technique of etching. It consists that the drawing is put by a metal cutter on a thick layer of wax covering a zinc or copper plate. Then the waxed plate is placed in an aqueous solution of nitric acid.
Therefore, the process and time of etching require unceasing control in order to achieve the desired depth of etched lines and lines that will give the cut-off transitions during printing. Soon Durer passed to the technique of cutter engraving, which allowed to make the finest shading, light shadows and all nuances.
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